This is the city: Los Angeles, California. I work here. I'm an ex-mayor. Los Angeles is a magnet for people from all over the world. Some of them run for public office. Inevitably some of them stray from the golden rule and rule for those that have the gold. That's when I go to work. My name is Yorty. I'm a dead pol.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

My comment on Ron Kaye's website/blog

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I am opposed to this effort. The people who are proposing it fail to see the forest for the trees. The salary of the City Council members is irrelevant. Even if they made 200K per year, the total of their 15 salaries combined would only be 3 Million/year.

The Council makes financial decisions that affect BILLIONS of dollars of LA's budgetary process. Their salaries are nothing compared to their financial power to make things happen...or not happen.

I wouldn't care if they made 300K per year....as long as they made Conservative decisions and eliminated higher costs and fees. If they would eliminate government departments and useless regulations.... and eliminate fraud, waste and abuse... they would deserve even more than they make now.

Their salary level is not the problem.Their actions, votes, and ideologies are the true problem.

11 Comments:

Anonymous said:

You just lost me asn an a supporter Phil. Their pay is out of wack with the rest of the state and nation. You can say the same for the California Assembly and Senate. Councilmembers make more and they are not the cream of the crop!

I actually think a few of the Council members are OK... others , not so much.

I like Zine and Smith. Garcetti is exceedingly polite to everyone. Rosendahl...he's OK.Gruel is nice and charming and hard not to like.

I'm not so much a fan of Alarcon, Perry and Huizar... nothing personal...I just don't agree with their Socialist/Communist ideologies.Most of the others have similar ideologies, but are much more moderate.

I don't mind Parks personally, but I don't like Parks pulling in 300K as a PENSION from the police and almost 200K from his salary. I don't mind someone earning a salary, but making more than almost every working City employee.... just as a pension? That is not what pensions were designed for. I think it is an abuse of the system.

Phil this goes to show how out of the loop you really are. Get a clue. These idiots on council are the laziest bunch of morons this city has seen. They are way over paid and its a message being sent. You show your ignorance when you say you like Smith and Zine who are two of the most disliked. Hellloooo Smith made fun of neighborhood councils who do more then his own staffers. Zine is an idiot who flip flops more then anyone and well Bitter Bernie is the biggest loser of the bunch.

1. Council members make too much and they have convinced themeselves that they actually earn it, hence the accompanying arrogance to what they do.

2. They are oblivious to the error and stupidity of their choice of decisions, linked in part to their belief that they are right, otherwise why would they get paid so much, with all the fluff staff and benefit?

3. Cutting out the sky-high paydays would take away the aroma from the positions that works like a fly-trap does in attracting flys. We might get candidates who work for the city's benefit instead of the present style of personal "shopping spree"/"plunder and pillage" that they practice.

Phil talks like CMs do when it comes to justifying the pay scale. It is related to nothing rational. The pay and raises are just miraculously hooked up to the state judge's pay, hopping onto that handy and prosperous gravy train that give them the excuse, "It's out of our contol; We didn't create the raise."

Sorry, "It's the Law" doesn't cut it. Guess who crafted this slimy scheme for waste of tax dollars? The council did. An early presentation (of many to come) of a charter amendment with the major benefit to "Number One" (themselves). Like their props R and S, slipped in to have the planned, not "unintended", consequences to screw taxpayers in a so-sanity method that keeps their hands "clean," but only if you take it at face value.

Cut their pay. What's wrong with you, Phil? Even if they could do right, the pay is OUT OF LINE.

(and appointee pay needs cutting, too, as an even more corrupt system.)

The Council only understands being hit over the head with a 2x4. This is a the 2x4 that they need to understand that EVERYTHING else that they do to suppress public participation for their developer buddies is out of control. Let's cut the salaries and increase the number of seats to make each of them less important.

Evaluate their performance. (They deserve at cut. They aren't the best in the nation.)

Base the pay on market rates. (They get paid the most in the nation and have the biggest staffs.)

Share in the pain. (City employees are taking cuts.)

Don't think of this so much as a way to save money. It is more about finding a common cause that will unite people in the city and form a grassroots organization that you will be able to go for support of your ideas.